Camarilla Ranking

In the vampire world, age is of the utmost important. A single Neonate will never hold a candle to the elder, in terms of power and experience. The adage 'old age and treachery will defeat youth and enthusiasm every time' has a very real basis in truth, especially for vampires.

However, there is strength in numbers and a coterie of Neonates may stand a chance against a young Elder, if they play their cards right.

So let's take a look at the practical aspects of each level of vampire.

Elders

These are the most accessible of the aged vampire, and the ones that perhaps pay the most attention to age and status. 300 years is better than 250, 250 is better than 200. This 'pecking order' is strictly observed and maintained by the Elders - perhaps because they are aware of the looming powers above them and are trying to salvage their egos as best they can.

No matter the cause, Elders enforce the system of status and respect religiously, and come down on those that buck this system like the fires of Hell itself.

Elders are also the vampires that shape the world for vampires as a whole. It is they that make the laws and decisions, it is their games that write history and reshape life for everyone around them. It is for this reason they are both feared and hated - even by their younger associates. The Elders' word is the first, last, and only Law that dominates the sum of the vampire world, save when an Ancient chooses to dabble.

The Elders of the New World were born before the modern age of Democracy. Their views are oft antiquated and traditional, even bigoted and autocratic. They have learned supreme patience in enduring so many ages, seen so much come to pass and fade, that their views may seem enigmatic and their actions over calculated.

But they are also often cold and remorseless, and know full well how to manipulate the common existence of vampires to their advantage. Having survived centuries, and taboos even beyond the Traditions protecting them from the restrictions of common vampires, Elders play a game of power with all the rest as mere pawns.

Ancillae

Ancillae Vampires use the term 'Ancilla' (Ancillae plural) to describe a vampire who has outgrown the Neonate title, but does not yet merit that of 'Elder'. In the New World this places them typically between 100 and 200 years old.

These vampire are the work force and 'Middle Class' of the vampire world. They vastly outnumber the Elders in most cities, and it is they that carry out the wishes and whims of the Elders above them. More often than not, the Ancilla are the caretakers of everything below them, assuring the Elders that all is in order and functioning properly for their aged masters. This does not mean the Ancilla are without power, for as a mass they could destroy an Elder - even a few, although many Ancilla would enter Final Death in the process.

The Elders and the Ancilla exist in a state of symbiotic dependence - without support, the Elders would find their power a hollow thing, but without the protection of an Elder, the Ancilla would find themselves easy prey for any other Elder that came along. From this codependency arises the system of Status, Prestige, and politics that is the familiar venue of nightly vampire life.Ancilla often can masquerade as either Elder or Neonate as it suits them, embracing the deep political power games, or the dark existence of the exuberant youth. These tend to be the Lieutenants, the eyes, ears, and arms of the Elders. It is a transitional time to be a vampire, where they are tested externally and internally to see if they can endure the test of ages.

Neonates

Neonates vary from newly released fledglings to indolent vampires of a hundred years. Marked by the stigma of not yet having proved themselves to the elders, neonates are inexperienced vampires who might one night make something of themselves - or, will fall as pawns in the schemes of the other undead.

The vampiric world has not embraced the democratic ideals of the last couple centuries. If anything, the threat of the
strengthening of human peoples has made their own societies more oppressive and feudal. These young vampires are at the bottom of vampire society, not yet powerful enough to have much of a voice or responsibility and only lightly involved in the true machinations of undead society. Consequently the Elders use them as pawns, much like
Neonates use their own ghouls and controlled humans.

Conversely, Neonates still have an investment in the mortal world of the 21st century and are less likely to adhere to the feudal character of vampiric society.

Of all the levels of vampire Society, the Neonate's place is perhaps the easiest of all. Death and destruction lurk in the shadows for all vampire, but the Neonates have some amount of control over what dangers they wish to invite, dependent on how fervently they wish to play the game.

Childer

These newly embraced and unreleased vampires are a class of non-people. Even the Traditions that serve and protect other vampires do not yet apply to them. Childer exist by the leave of their sires and nothing more. They
are not even held accountable for their own actions, and any mistakes they make are taken up with their sires instead. Of course, this could result in an errant childe simply being destroyed after a particularly embarrassing episode - since no vampire is going to risk their hard-fought Prestige on the repeated bad behavior of a disposable
commodity.

Childer are the possessions of their sires, and it is the fortunate few that are treated as anything more than that. Childer have no recourse, no authority to turn to save their own sire, and no one to speak for them. Until they are released, they do not exist except as an accessory to their sire's presence.

Ghouls

If Childer seem to have it bad, they only need to look to these half-breeds to see how bad it can truly be. If vampire Childer are truly the children in a vampire household, then Ghouls are the family dog - at best. At worst, Ghouls fill the function of prized chickens or pigs. Raised with care, fed from, and eventually slaughtered to commemorate
some auspicious occasion. Every conceivable concept of 'human rights' disappears with the advent of the Blood Bond, and only the extremely fortunate can ever hope for the best of fates for a Ghoul - the Embrace, or a quick death.


Humans

Cocktails, anyone?

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And so, there it is in a nutshell - vampire society from top to bottom, from a slightly Camarilla-slanted point of view, but in this day and age that is what serves us all best.

Remember this canon well the next time your Neonate is about to piss off an Ancilla, or your ghoul lips off to their Domitor, or your Ancilla decides to get uppity with an Elder. This is the way Vampires live - and if your character survived to BE more than a year old, there is no way they did so without observing this code, no way at all.